east anglia one north offshore windfarm appendix 3... · appendix 3.1 consultation on the draft...

East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm

Appendix 3 Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC)

Consultation Report

Applicant: East Anglia ONE North Limited Document Reference: 5.1.3SPR Reference: EA1N-DWF-ENV-REP-IBR-000373_003 Rev 01 Pursuant to: Section 37(3)(c) of The Planning Act 2008

Author: Royal HaskoningDHV Date: October 2019 Revision: Version 1

This page is intentionally blank

East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm Consultation Report

5.1 Consultation Report

Table of Contents

Appendix 3 Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC)

Appendix 3.1 Consultation on the Draft SoCC and Updated SoCCAppendix 3.2 Published SoCC (6th March 2018)Appendix 3.3 Newspaper Notice Advertising Publication of the SoCC

Appendix 3.4 Venues with the SoCC available to view

Appendix 3.5 Stakeholders who received email advertising the SoCC

Appendix 3.6 Local Authority Comments Raised to Publicised SoCC and SPR’s Response

Appendix 3.7 Updated SoCC (19th September 2018)

Appendix 3.8 Newspaper Notices Advertising Publication of the Update to the SoCC

Appendix 3.9 Venues with the Update to the SoCC available to view

Appendix 3.10 Stakeholders who received email advertising the Update to the SoCC

East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm

Appendix 3.1 Consultation on the Draft SoCC

and Updated SoCC

Consultation Report

Applicant: East Anglia ONE North Limited Document Reference: 5.1.3.1SPR Reference: EA1N-DWF-ENV-REP-IBR-000373_003_01 Rev 01 Pursuant to: Section 37(3)(c) of The Planning Act 2008

Author: Royal HaskoningDHV Date: October 2019 Revision: Version 1

From: Kelly LinayTo: Ellie SymondsSubject: FW: EA TWO and 1N DRAFT SoCCsDate: 05 January 2018 14:44:15Attachments: EA2 Report to inform the Statement of Community Consultation V7.docx

EA1N Report to inform the Statement of Community Consultation V7.docxEast Anglia TWO SoCC V7.docxEast Anglia ONE North SoCC V7.docx

For logging.

Kelly LinayDeputy Director, Community Engagement

DDI: 01733 207330Mob: 07748 793509Email: [email protected]: 25 Priestgate, Peterborough, PE1 1JL

Twitter: @AtheneCommsWeb: www.athene-communications.co.uk

From: Cartwright, Holly Sent: 21 December 2017 15:00To: Lisa Chandler Cc: Mackay, Ian Walker, Helen Subject: EA TWO and 1N DRAFT SoCCs

Dear Lisa, John,

Please see attached draft Statements of Community Consultation and supporting Report to Inform the SoCC for East Anglia TWO and ONE North. These are not for formal publication and comment yet, this will be carried out in Spring next year. We wanted to share an early draft with you in order

to gain feedback on its content and would ask that you please come back to us by 26th January 2018 with any comments. We will then review those comments, update the reports accordingly and publish for formal consultation at the end of February 2018.

As discussed on our call last week, please can you confirm that SCC and SCDC will provide comments on the SoCCs on behalf of all the potentially relevant local authorities for example Norfolk CC, the Broads Authority, Ipswich BC, Great Yarmouth BC, etc?

Please let me know if you have any queries regarding the attached documents.

Wishing you both a wonderful Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you in January.

mailto:/O=FIRST ORGANIZATION/OU=EXCHANGE ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=KELLYmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://twitter.com/athenecommshttp://www.athene-communications.co.uk/

Report to Inform the Statement of Community Consultation

Whitelee Windfarm Extension Phase 3Month, YYYY

Environmental Statement

www.scottishpowerrenewables.com

Type of summaryPage 1

REVISION CONTROL

Revision and Approvals

Rev

Date

Reason for Issue

Originated by

Checked by

Approved by

1

28.11.2017

First draft

Debbie Harper

2

27.12.2017

Second draft

DH

3

05.12.2017

Revised following comments from JY & HC

KL

4

08.12.2017

Revised following comments from KC

KL

5

18.12.2017

Revised following comments from HW and S&W

KL

6

19.12.2017

For submission in

draft to SCC and SCDC

DH

Table of contents

1Glossary of abbreviations5

2Introduction6

2.1Statement of Community Consultation6

2.2Aim6

2.3The Applicant7

3The Proposal7

3.1East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarms7

4Geographical Area of Engagement11

4.1The Onshore Consultation Zone11

4.2The Onshore Study Area13

4.3The Offshore Consultation Zone13

5SoCC Strategy14

5.1Overlap with RAG Report and Red Line Boundary14

6Consenting Process15

6.1Pre-Application Consultation17

6.2Scoping17

6.3Supporting Environmental Information17

7Identifying our Consultees17

7.1Statutory Consultees17

7.1.1Non-Statutory Consultees18

7.1.2The Local Community18

7.1.3All Other Stakeholders18

8The Consultation Process18

8.1Consultation Objectives18

8.2Consultation Strategy19

8.3Four Phases of Consultation19

8.3.1Phase One19

8.3.2Phase Two19

8.3.2.1Hard to Reach Groups19

8.3.3Phase Three20

8.3.4Phase Four20

8.4Special Events20

9Communication Tools22

9.1How we will respond to Consultee Comments22

10Further Information23

10.1General Consultation Enquiries23

10.2Fishing Related Enquiries23

10.3Land Related Enquiries23


Scottish Power Renewables is pleased to commence the statutory consultation for the East Anglia TWO Offshore Windfarm.

SPR is responsible for progressing offshore windfarms throughout the world and onshore wind and marine energy projects in the UK. It is currently taking forward the development and progressing the construction of the 102-turbine East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm approximately 43km off the coast of Suffolk. This £2.5 billion project is planned to deliver energy to meet the annual demand of around 600,000 homes and should be fully operational during 2020. This project will be followed by the 1,200MW East Anglia THREE windfarm which received development consent in summer 2017.

Building on these first two East Anglia projects, SPR is now seeking to progress development of the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects.

As with the East Anglia ONE and East Anglia THREE offshore windfarm projects, consultation with local communities will play a major part in shaping East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North, and I encourage you as much as possible to get involved in the process. Public information events will be held locally where members of the ScottishPower Renewables project team will be on hand to discuss the proposals and answer questions.

Details of these events are provided in the table below.

We welcome any feedback on our plans and look forward to discussing them with you.

Area

Venue

Date

Time

Lowestoft

Victoria Hotel

17 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Southwold

TBC

17 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Leiston

United Church

18 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Thorpeness

Thorpeness Golf Club

24 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Aldeburgh

Brundenell Hotel

24 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Orford

Town Hall

25 March 2018

10am – 1pm

This document is also available in large print, Braille and audio forms on request.

Glossary of abbreviations

Term

Abbreviation

Commercial Fisheries Working Group

CFWG

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

AONB

Development Consent Order

DCO

East Anglia TWO

EA2

East Anglia ONE North

EA1N

Environmental Impact Assessment

EIA


ES

Health & Safety Executive

HSE

Local Enterprise Partnership

LEP

Marine Mammals Organisation

MMO

Planning Inspectorate

PINS

Preliminary Environmental Information Report

PEIR

Red Line Boundary

RLB

Report to Inform

RtI

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

RSPB

ScottishPower Renewables

SPR

Statement of Community Consultation

SoCC

Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies

SNCBs

Zone of Theoretical Visibility

ZTV

Introduction


This section describes the strategy to deliver the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), the advertisement of the SoCC and the supporting Report to Inform the SoCC for East Anglia TWO Offshore Windfarm (EA2).

This document is a statement detailing how statutory and non-statutory consultees can engage with ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), and the decision makers.

The SoCC was originally scheduled to be produced to coincide with the refinement of the Red Line Boundary (RLB) for the location of the onshore infrastructure. However, early engagement outside of the formal Development Consent Order (DCO) application process combined with dialogue with the local authorities (Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council), has influenced SPR’s decision to bring this forward.

There are four key issues to be considered and relayed to stakeholders around this consultation strategy.

Key Issues:

1. The geographical spread of the interested parties is large and focussed on a coastal strip between Great Yarmouth and Felixstowe.

2. The stakeholders associated with the new connection point are new and are assumed to have some experience of consultation on major infrastructure projects, and this influenced our decision to commence early engagement.

3. SPR has completed a phase of early engagement in the area of search for onshore infrastructure and those potentially impacted by the visual aspects of the wind turbines using Public Information Days (PIDs). These were completed 30 & 31 October and 1 & 2 November 2017.

4. SPR is refining the area of search for onshore infrastructure in parallel using a balance of consultation and technical constraints. The local authorities have expressed a desire to understand how the early engagement ties in with the refinement of the area of search.

Scoping was submitted to PINS on 9th November 2017 for both East Anglia TWO (EA2) and East Anglia ONE North (EA1N). The two projects have been developed in parallel to November 2017 and the SoCC will now be progressed for both EA2 and EA1N. The SoCC strategy is to deliver a single SoCC advert for publication and a separate ‘Report to Inform the SoCC’ and SoCC for both EA2 and EA1N.

Aim

The aim of the SoCC is to clarify the development programme, lines of communication and means of engagement with statutory stakeholders, non-statutory stakeholders and interested parties.

During the determination of the application, SPR will be measured against the commitments made in the SoCC. It is therefore a critical document in the development process.

Planning Inspectorate (PINS) advice acknowledges that responding to the Developers pre-application consultation is the best time to influence the final design or mitigate any perceived impacts

The SoCC will detail what consultation SPR intends to undertake with the communities potentially affected by the project.

One of the key issues for this SoCC is that the area of search for onshore infrastructure, the ‘Onshore Study Area’, and the resultant Red Line Boundary (RLB), will be refined in parallel. SPR consultation therefore has a dual objective – to both consult on the development of the East Anglia TWO Windfarm and the definition of the RLB.

East Anglia TWODecember, 2017


Page 2

The Applicant

SPR is part of the Iberdrola Group, a world leader in clean energy with an installed capacity of over 28,000MW, and the leading wind energy producer worldwide. SPR is at the forefront of the development of the renewables industry through pioneering ideas, forward thinking and outstanding innovation which, in turn, drives economic success.

By the end of 2017, SPR will have 40 operational windfarms in the UK producing over 2,500MW of clean energy. SPR manage all of their operational sites, including their international offshore portfolio, through the Control Centre at Whitelee Windfarm, just outside Glasgow.

SPR is currently taking forward the development and progressing the construction of the 102-turbine East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm approximately 43km off the coast of Suffolk. This £2.5 billion project is planned to deliver energy to meet the annual demand of around 600,000 homes and should be fully operational during 2020. SPRs 1,200MW East Anglia Three offshore windfarm project has recently received development consent and will follow on from East Anglia ONE.

Building on these first two East Anglia projects, SPR is now seeking to progress development of the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North offshore windfarm projects.

Figure 1- SPR East Anglia portfolio

The Proposal

East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarms

The East Anglia TWO windfarm site (see Figure 1) is approximately 255km2 in area. At its nearest point, the East Anglia TWO windfarm site is 31km from Lowestoft and 32km from Southwold. Within the East Anglia TWO windfarm site it is proposed that up to 75 wind turbines and an overall installed capacity of up to 900MW would be constructed. When operational the project would have the potential to provide up to 740,000* homes with power. From the wind turbines electricity would flow via subsea inter-array cables to a number of offshore electrical platforms and then to the shore via offshore export cables.

*Calculated taking the number of megawatts (900) multiplied by the number of hours in one year (8,766), multiplied by the average load factor (efficiency of electrical energy usage) for offshore wind (36.7 %, published by the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics), divided by the average annual household energy consumption (3,900 kWh), giving an equivalent of powering 742,413 homes.

Page 7

Scenario 1 (East Anglia TWO installs ducts and National Grid Infrastructure)

Scenario 2 (East Anglia TWO does not install ducts and National Grid Infrastructure)

Landfall and Onshore Cable Route

Number of ducts installed at the landfall (either by HDD or open trenching)

0

Up to 4

Number of transition bays

Up to 2

Up to 2

Transition bay dimensions

9m x 4m

9m x 4m

Landfall HDD compound dimensions (if required)

175m x 50m

175m x 50m

Number of onshore export cables

Up to 6

Up to 6

Onshore cable corridor swathe width

50m

50m

Number cable trenches (between transition bay and onshore substation)

0

Up to 2

Number ducts installed within onshore cable corridor swathe

0

Up to 6

Number of jointing bays

Dependent upon length of onshore cable route. One required approximately every 500m.

Dimension of jointing bays

15m (length) x 3m (width) x 2m (depth)

Number of link boxes

Dependent upon length of onshore cable route. Two required for every jointing bay

Dimension of link boxes

1.5m (length) x 1.5m (width) x 1.5m (depth)

Onshore Substation

Substation operational compound area

190m x 190m

190m x 190m

Substation construction compound area (required in addition to the operational footprint)

185m x 50m

185m x 50m

Substation buildings height

Up to 21m

Up to 21m

National Grid infrastructure

Substation compound area

n/a

325m x 140m

Maximum height

n/a

Up to 13m

Offshore export cables will connect the offshore electrical platforms within the proposed East Anglia TWO windfarm site to shore, making landfall between Sizewell and Thorpeness in Suffolk.

Offshore

Capacity

Up to 800MW

East Anglia ONE North windfarm area (offshore)

208km2

Distance from East Anglia ONE North to shore

36km Lowestoft

42km Southwold

50km Sizewell

60km Orford

Maximum offshore export cable corridor length

54.4km

Number of wind turbines

Up to 67

[footnoteRef:1]Proposed wind turbine capacity [1: More than one wind turbine and foundation type and manufacturer could be deployed, up to a maximum of three wind turbine models will be considered for the proposed East Anglia TWO project design envelope.]

Up to 19MW (dependent upon available technology) and subject to change within the dimensions ultimately assessed

Wind Turbine rotor diameter

Up to 250m

Tip height

Up to 300m (LAT)

Minimum clearance above sea level

22m (MHWS)

Minimum inter-row spacing

1,386m

Number of offshore electrical platforms

Up to 4

Number of accommodation platforms

1

Number of operational met masts

1

Number of export cables

2

Inter-array, platform link and inter-connector cables

The lengths and numbers required will be determined as more detailed work is undertaken and assessed in the final ES.

Water depth over wind farm site

Typically -33 to -67mLAT

Once the offshore export cables reach the shore they will be joined to onshore cables via a transition bay near the point of landfall and then to a new onshore substation. From this substation the proposed East Anglia TWO project will then be connected into the transmission network via a new transmission substation owned and operated by National Grid. In addition, there may be a requirement to upgrade the existing pylons to allow for connection to the transmission network. All of these elements would be consented as part of the East Anglia TWO windfarm Development Consent Order (DCO) application (see Figure 2).

Onshore, given partial location within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), SPR is committed to undergrounding the cables with the benefit of avoiding landscape and visual impacts associated with overhead lines. Furthermore, SPR is committed to exploring synergies between the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects in the same manner as for East Anglia ONE and East Anglia THREE by proposing where possible, and subject to regulatory certainty, to install ducting for the East Anglia ONE North windfarm onshore electrical cables during the East Anglia TWO windfarm construction. This would reduce the construction impacts for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project.

Figure 2 – How an offshore windfarm works

The onshore study area (see Figure 3) has been identified by initial constraints and feasibility studies. It includes land between Sizewell and Thorpeness at the landfall and inland approximately 7km to the north of Friston

Figure 3 – Onshore Study Area

The DCO application for the proposed East Anglia TWO project will include all of the new elements described above (including the associated National Grid infrastructure). In addition temporary works and ancillary infrastructure necessary for the construction and operation of the project, such as temporary construction areas onshore, and accommodation platforms offshore shall be included.

East Anglia TWO has been developed in parallel with East Anglia ONE NORTH in so far as submission of their Scoping Reports to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) and preparation and publication of the project SOCCs.

East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North are advertising their commencement of formal consultation in accordance with Section 47 the Planning Act 2008. As part of that process, consultation will be carried out on the Onshore Study Area (see Figure 4) for potential locations for the onshore infrastructure and the cable routeing.

Following the advertisement of the SoCC, East Anglia TWO will progress through the development phase around one year ahead of East Anglia ONE North. It is currently expected that the Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the proposed East Anglia TWO project will be submitted in 2019 and the DCO application for East Anglia ONE North in 2020.

Geographical Area of Engagement

The Onshore Consultation Zone

Figure 4 shows the Onshore Consultation Zone. This has been determined by defining the Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV), shown in Figure 4 below. This output of computer modelling identifies where it is theoretically possible to see the offshore wind turbines from, in very good or excellent visibility conditions; as well as communities within the Onshore Study Area.

Figure 4 – Onshore Consultation Zone

The Onshore Study Area

Figure 3 shows the Onshore Study Area. This is the area within which onshore infrastructure, for East Anglia TWO, East Anglia ONE North and National Grid would be placed. This is currently an area of search and the forthcoming months will refine the locations of the substations, landfall and onshore cable corridor. This is a key function of the consultation process.

The Onshore Study Area will be taken to a stage where there is a refined study area (in March 2018) and then a final red line boundary in June 2018.

The onshore study area is the area where we focussed our October /November 2017 PIDS and we will continue to engage with this area throughout the process, as well as widening the geographical area to ensure we engage with those within the wider Onshore Consultation Zone.

The key onshore components of the proposed East Anglia TWO project are expected to comprise:

· Landfall site with an associated transition bay to connect the offshore and onshore cables

· Onshore underground cable ducts and cable jointing bays, into which cables will be installed

· Onshore underground cable ducts installed for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project

· Onshore substation

· Infrastructure required by National Grid to connect the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects to the electricity transmission network, expected to include:


· Sealing end compounds / gantries

· Potential for the upgrade of up to two existing overhead pylons or minor relocation of up to two existing overhead pylons.

It is expected that the proposed East Anglia TWO project will consent all of the required National Grid infrastructure as it will be constructed first. However, the proposed East Anglia ONE North project may need to consent additional infrastructure required to connect its substation to the overhead lines, as well as parts of the National Grid substation infrastructure. The Onshore Study Area; i.e. the area within which onshore infrastructure, for East Anglia TWO, East Anglia ONE North and National Grid would be placed has a separate, but parallel, consultation process. This is integral and running in tandem with the broader consultation process defined in this SoCC.

Whilst this boundary is being refined and ultimately presented at June 2018 PIDs, wider consultation will continue on the project towards the submission date.

The Offshore Consultation Zone

Figure 5 shows the proposed development boundary for the project and the Offshore Consultation Zone. This is the area within which offshore infrastructure will be placed.

Figure 5 – Offshore Cable Corridor Area of Search

Engagement is ongoing with a number of stakeholders including the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and our Commercial Fisheries Working Group (CFWG).

SoCC Strategy

This document is a statement detailing how statutory and non-statutory consultees can engage with SPR and the decision makers. This document is known as the ‘Report to Inform’ (RtI) and describes the strategy to deliver the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) to support the development and consenting of the East Anglia TWO offshore windfarm.

The SoCC strategy is to deliver:

· a single SoCC advert for publication as shown below;

· two ‘advertising poster’ SoCCs; and

· two ‘Reports to Inform the SoCC’ for East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North.

Publication

Publication Date

East Anglian Daily Times

w/c 26 February 2018 & w/c 5 March 2018

Lowestoft Journal


Fishing Trade Journal – Fishing News Weekly Journal

w/c 26 February 2018

The aim of the SoCC is to clarify the development programme, lines of communication and means of engagement with statutory stakeholders and non-statutory stakeholders.

Overlap with RAG Report and Red Line Boundary

There is a logical overlap between the consultation strategy and the refinement of the Red Line Boundary for onshore infrastructure.

The Onshore Study Area for onshore infrastructure has been shared at our recent Public Information Days (PIDs) and in Briefing sessions with Town and Parish Councils. The Area of Search is also presented in the Scoping Report and is something we will be seeking opinion on as part of the wider consultation and planning process.

SPR Commitment to Early Engagement

· SPR is committed to early engagement, meaningful and full consultation with interested parties.

SPR Commitment to Briefing Town Councils and Parish Councils in and around the Area of Search

· Leiston Town Council, Aldringham Parish Council, Knodishall Parish Council already engaged

· Other relevant Parish/Town Councils and Residents Associations Briefings to be arranged

Trackers

· Trackers to monitor consistency between RLB refinement and SoCC commitments

· Trackers to maintain momentum and deliver a DCO in 2019

Consenting Process

A diagram of the Consenting Process is shown below.

Figure 5: Consenting process flow chart

Pre-Application Consultation

This document provides information to support the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), provided as Appendix 1, for the East Anglia TWO offshore windfarm and associated development. It includes the proposed strategy for consultation with local communities in accordance with Section 47 of the Planning Act 2008 and represents the commencement of consultation under Section 47. It explains who we have identified to consult, the consultation methods proposed and the proposed timeframes for consultation.

This document also identifies how you can comment on the proposals and help shape the proposed DCO application for the project. The first formal events of statutory community consultation under Section 47 will be held in March 2018.

Scoping


The East Anglia TWO Scoping Report is available to view on the PINS website by clicking here or visiting

https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/east-anglia-two-offshore-windfarm/?ipcsection=docs

The East Anglia ONE North Scoping Report is available to view on the PINS website by clicking here or visiting

https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/east-anglia-one-north-offshore-windfarm/?ipcsection=docs

Supporting Environmental Information

Legislation requires that SPR undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to identify likely significant environmental effects of the project. The results of the EIA will be published in an Environmental Statement (ES) that will accompany the DCO application for the proposed project.

In order to agree the environmental studies required for the EIA with statutory consultees, SPR submitted a Scoping Report to PINS on 9th November 2017. This document included detailed information on the approach to EIA for the proposed project, an indicative project description for offshore and onshore works and the potential environmental impacts which will be assessed.

A Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR), which will include details of the preliminary assessment findings, will be published for consultation in autumn 2018, and will be made available to the public through publication on the East Anglia TWO project website as well as the PINS website. The PEIR will include a description of the proposals and baseline information (to date) and identify the potential impacts of the development, as well as possible measures to reduce, prevent or offset these. This will include information on the scope for any associated land restoration, landscaping and other mitigation measures if required.

There will be an opportunity to respond to SPR when the PEIR and the EIA/ES are published.

Identifying our Consultees

Statutory Consultees

We are required by the Planning Act 2008 to consult with certain organisations and persons on our proposed application. We will also notify these parties if the application is accepted by PINS.

These consultees include:

· Relevant local authorities

· MMO

· The Crown Estate

· HSE

· Environment Agency

· Natural England

· Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs)

· Relevant Parish Councils

· Owners, lessees, tenants and other persons with an interest in the land/right to make a relevant claim

Non-Statutory Consultees

Non Statutory consultees are those agencies and organisations with whom we consult with as best practice and these include:

· Local communities, i.e. Residents’ Associations

· Fishermen, through our ‘Commercial Fisheries Working Group’ (CWFG)

· Local Interest Groups

· Local Amenity Groups

Please note that these lists are not exhaustive.

The Local Community

The Local Communities have been determined by defining the Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV), shown in Figure 4 above.

The local communities are within the defined Onshore Consultation Zone

We have focussed on the coastal settlements within the ZTV and the communities within the Onshore Study Area. However, the consultation events will be advertised on a regional basis using the East Anglia Daily Times and Lowestoft Journal and we would encourage those from the wider area with comments and opinions to engage.

All Other Stakeholders

Other Stakeholders have been identified by SPR and will also be consulted. For example other Stakeholders include the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Suffolk Preservation Society.

The Consultation Process

Consultation Objectives

The consultation objectives are to consult widely, honestly and in a cyclical fashion – to allow representations to be incorporated into the project where possible.

PINS guidance on the pre-application process advocates that early involvement of local communities, local authorities and statutory consultees can bring about significant benefits for all parties, by:

· Helping the applicant identify and resolve issues at the earliest stage, which can reduce the overall risk to the project further down the line as it becomes more difficult to make changes once an application has been submitted;

· Enabling members of the public to influence proposed projects, feedback on potential options, and encouraging the community to help shape the proposal to maximise local benefits and minimize any downsides;

· Helping local people understand the potential nature and local impact of the proposed project, with the potential to dispel misapprehensions at an early stage;

· Enabling applicants to obtain important information about the economic, social and environmental impacts of a scheme from consultees, which can help rule out unsuitable options;

· Enabling potential mitigating measures to be considered and, if appropriate, built into the project before an application is submitted; and

· Identifying ways in which the project could, without significant costs to promoters, support wider strategic or local objectives.

Consultation Strategy

The Consultation Strategy for East Anglia TWO is focussed around the dual objective of both consulting on the development of the proposed East Anglia TWO project and the area of search for onshore infrastructure, the ‘Onshore Study Area’, and the resultant Red Line Boundary (RLB), for the onshore infrastructure (which covers both East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North).

The consultation has been split into four phases, as described below.

Four Phases of Consultation

Phase One

SPR chose to complete a phase of early engagement to share the work with statutory bodies to identify our onshore study area. There were three reasons for this:

1. To introduce the project to stakeholders;

2. Consult on potential locations for onshore infrastructure; and

3. To consult on those potentially impacted by the visual aspects of the offshore windfarm.

This was completed using the following tools:

· Telephone calls, briefings, meetings and sharing the Project Leaflet with a wide range of statutory and non-statutory stakeholders; County, Borough, District, Town, Parish Councils, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Visit East Anglia, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. For further details, please see Appendix 6.

· Preparation and circulation of the Project Leaflet (see Appendix 3), as a means of introducing the projects.

· Public Information Days (PIDs) on 30 and 31 October and 1 and 2 November 2017.

Phase One was ‘non statutory’ consultation as it was outside the process described in legislation.

A Summary of Environmental Considerations was produced to support East Anglia TWO in early engagement activities. All the materials presented are accessible on the website link below:

www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/pages/east_anglia_two.aspx

Phase Two

SPR propose to hold a series of PID events in March 2018. These will be the first ‘formal’ consultation events. A ‘formal’ consultation event is one which is required by legislation and has certain requirements including registration of visitors.

The March 2018 events will specifically provide further information on our onshore study area within which we intend to site the projects onshore electrical infrastructure, the refinement of the RLB, and also further information on visual impact.

Hard to Reach Groups

The geographical area of engagement includes a ‘Hard to Reach’ audience. This is made up of a number of informal groups of people and includes tourists and second home owners.

In order to secure the attention of the ‘Hard to Reach’ audience, it is proposed to target this audience when we hold PIDs in March 2018 to coincide with the consultation events associated with refining the RLB.

It is recognised that some individuals may not have had the opportunity to visit the PIDs in October/ November 2017. The proposal is to complete a targeted phase of PID events over a weekend, using advertisement and a mail drop to highlight the opportunity.

Details below:

Area

Venue

Date

Time

Lowestoft

Victoria Hotel

17 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Southwold

TBC

17 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Leiston

United Church

18 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Thorpeness


24 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Aldeburgh

Brundenell Hotel

24 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Orford

Town Hall

25 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Phase Three

The third phase of consultation will be in June 2018.

We will hold PIDs in the venues already visited to show our defined Red Line Boundary for onshore infrastructure and update our consultees on the proposed development plans.

The defined Red Line Boundary will be shared at the June PID events and other details of the project will be available to share with our consultees. The period between the June PID events and submission of the PEIR in November 2018 will allow further refinement of the project.

Phase Four

The fourth phase of consultation will be in November 2018 when the PEIR is submitted.

This SoCC sets out the manner in which the scheme promoter is proposing to consult with the local community in accordance with Section 47(1) of the Planning Act 2008. Consultation with statutory consultees (such as Natural England, the Environment Agency etc.), local authorities and landowners will also be undertaken under Section 42 of the Planning Act 2008. Where relevant, this may include information on the scope for any associated landscaping, other mitigation or compensatory measures for natural habitats impact.

The PEIR will essentially be a draft Environmental Statement (to that point) to support the DCO application. The DCO is scheduled to be submitted in 2019.

Consultation on the PEIR will be known as ‘Section 42 Consultation’.

Special Events

SPR takes consultation very seriously as a scheduled part of the development programme. However, it is acknowledged that there are often consultation opportunities that arise for example engagement with the wider ‘Hard to Reach’ Groups, including visitors and groups that do not meet frequently.

For this reason, our Development Team and Stakeholder Manager will monitor these opportunities and engage as appropriate.

The integrated timeline of activities is shown below:

Figure 5: Timeline of activities

Communication Tools

SPR recognise that one method of consultation doesn’t meet the requirements of each stakeholder group. For this reason, it is proposed to use a number of communication tools.

How we will respond to Consultee Comments

Following each phase of consultation, we will have a period to digest and consider feedback and review our proposals. After each phase of PID events we will publish findings on the SPR website.

Phase two consultation in March will continue to inform the definition of the RLB. The RLB will be presented in June 2018 at a series of PIDs. Consultation regarding other aspects of the project will continue towards submission date.

Where consultees approach SPR by email or mail, SPR will acknowledge the communication within 1 week. SPR will endeavour to respond to the consultee within 1 calendar month.

All comments and information we receive will be recorded in a consultation database and be considered by SPR. As part of our DCO application, we will provide a Consultation Report to explain how the views received have been incorporated into the project design process and EIA. If an issue has not resulted in a change to the proposed development, the Consultation Report will explain this. As there may be a large number of responses, the Consultation Report may group comments into broad issues of concern. Please note that all communications will be publicly available, however, no personal details will be published.

Further Information

General Consultation Enquiries

SPR has a Stakeholder Manager, Joanna Young, who is co-ordinating consultation on the development of the proposed East Anglia TWO project.

All project information will be available on our website at the following address or by clicking here

https://www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/pages/east_anglia_two.aspx

We also have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with: [email protected]

You can also write to us at the following Freepost address:

ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia TWO

RTLY-RLGH-GKSE

FREEPOST

25 Priestgate

Peterborough PE1 1JL

Should you wish to follow the project on the PINS website, the East Anglia TWO website is at the following address or by clicking here:


Fishing Related Enquiries

SPR has a dedicated Fishery/Fishing Liaison Officer, Brown & May, who is coordinating liaison with fishing stakeholders on the development of the proposed East Anglia TWO project.

We have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with the Fishery/Fishing Liaison Officer: [email protected]

You can also contact us at the following address:

Jonathan Kerr

East Anglia TWO FLO

For and on behalf of ScottishPower Renewables

Brown & May Marine Limited

Progress Way

Mid Suffolk Business Park

Eye

Suffolk IP23 7HU

Direct Dial: 01379 872143

Land Related Enquiries

SPR has a dedicated Land Officer, Savills, who is coordinating liaison with land owners on the development of the East Anglia TWO project.

We have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with the Land Officer:

[email protected]

Address Here

Direct Dial: XXXX XXXXXX

Appendix 1 - SoCC

Attach once designed

Appendix 2 - Advert Produced to Support Phase 1 PID Consultation

Appendix 3 – Project Leaflet (V2 & superseded by Scoping Report in November 2017)

Appendix 4 – Pre-application consultation to Drafting of SoCC in December 2017

Consultees

Norfolk County Council

Expert Topic Group (ETG) Meeting on Seascape Visuals

Suffolk County Council

Mid Suffolk District Council

New 'East Suffolk Council' from 2019

(Suffolk Coastal & Waveney merging)

Waveney District Council

The Broads Authority

PINS

MMO

Natural England

Historic England

Leiston cum Sizewell Town Council

Aldringham cum Thorpe Parish Council

Knodishall Parish Council

Sizewell Residents Association

Orford and Gedgrave Parish Council

Aldeburgh Town Council

Walberswick Parish Council

Southwold Town Council

Kessingland Parish Council

Lowestoft Town Council

The Crown Estate

EDF

Innogy

Galloper OFTO

Gabbard OFTO

Vattenfall

NGC

Members of Parliament


New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership for Norfolk and Suffolk

RSPB

Suffolk Wildlife Trust

WDCS

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce

Suffolk Preservation Society

Suffolk Coastal Forum

Destination Management Organisation

Royal Yachting Association

Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club

Visit East Anglia

The follow consultees were identified through the phase 1 PIDS:

Southwold Chamber of Trade

AONB Management Team

Rayden Society

Southwold Harbour Master

Leiston Together

Transport Groups


ScottishPower House

320 St Vincent Street

Glasgow

G2 5AD

T 0141 614 0000

[email protected]


December 2017

January2018

February 2018

March 2018

Scoping Opinion due

Review of Scoping Opinion and scoping responses

Workshop with LPA and wider statutory stakeholders

April2018

Presentation of final development boundary to LPA and wider statutory stakeholders

Town and Parish Council engagement ongoing as required - presentation of updates

May2018

Presentation of draft development boundary to LPA

Production of draft SoCC

June2018

Phase 3 PIDs

Commence section 42 consultation on submitted Preliminary Environmental Information Report

Phase 4 PIDS to coincide with section 42 consultation

Local Planning Authority (LPA) workshop

Phase 2 Public Information Days (PIDs)

Ongoing meetings with Town and Parish Councils

Town and Parish Councils engagement ongoing as required

Scoping submission

Ongoing Meetings with Town and Parish Councils to present onshore study area

Phase 1 PIDs to introduce the projects to local communities

November 2017

Initial Meetings with Town and Parish Councils to present onshore study area

October2017

November 2018

Consultation Events

Written Communication

Verbal Communication

Website Updates

Drop in Public Information Days (PIDS)

Presentation to Local Authorities, Parish Councils, specific interest groups

Stakeholder Events

Email Updates

Response to written letters/emails

Presentations by invite

Updates in The East Angle - SPR's flagship newsletter

Project video

Project Launch

August 2017

Summer Break

Aug-Sept 2017

Phase 1 PID Roll Out

Oct 2017

PIDs

Oct/Nov 2017

Scoping

Nov 2017

SoCC Drafting

Dec 2017

Page 32


Whitelee Windfarm Extension Phase 3Month, YYYY



Type of summaryPage 2

REVISION CONTROL

Revision and Approvals

Rev

Date

Reason for Issue

Originated by

Checked by

Approved by

1

28.11.2017

First draft

Debbie Harper

2

27.12.2017

Second draft

DH

3

05.12.2017

Revised following comments from JY & HC

KL

4

08.12.2017

Revised following comments from KC

KL

5

18.12.2017

Revised following comments from HW and S&W

KL

6

19.12.2017

For submission in

draft to SCC and SCDC

DH

East Anglia ONE NorthDecember, 2017


Page 2

Table of contents

1Glossary of abbreviations5

2Introduction6

2.1Statement of Community Consultation6

2.2Aim6

2.3The Applicant7

3The Proposal7

3.1East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarms7

4Geographical Area of Engagement11

4.1The Onshore Consultation Zone11

4.2The Onshore Study Area13

4.3The Offshore Consultation Zone13

5SoCC Strategy15

5.1Overlap with RAG Report and Red Line Boundary15

6Consenting Process15

6.1Pre-Application Consultation17

6.2Scoping17

6.3Supporting Environmental Information17

7Identifying our Consultees17

7.1Statutory Consultees17

7.1.1Non-Statutory Consultees18

7.1.2The Local Community18

7.1.3All Other Stakeholders18

8The Consultation Process18

8.1Consultation Objectives18

8.2Consultation Strategy18

8.3Four Phases of Consultation19

8.3.1Phase One19

8.3.2Phase Two19

8.3.2.1Hard to Reach Groups19

8.3.3Phase Three20

8.3.4Phase Four20

8.4Special Events20

9Communication Tools22

9.1How we will respond to Consultee Comments22

10Further Information23

10.1General Consultation Enquiries23

10.2Fishing Related Enquiries23

10.3Land Related Enquiries23


Scottish Power Renewables is pleased to commence the statutory consultation for the East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm.

SPR is responsible for progressing offshore windfarms throughout the world and onshore wind and marine energy projects in the UK. It is currently taking forward the development and progressing the construction of the 102-turbine East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm approximately 43km off the coast of Suffolk. This £2.5 billion project is planned to deliver energy to meet the annual demand of around 600,000 homes and should be fully operational during 2020. This project will be followed by the 1,200MW East Anglia THREE windfarm which received development consent in summer 2017.

Building on these first two East Anglia projects, SPR is now seeking to progress development of the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects.

As with the East Anglia ONE and East Anglia THREE offshore windfarm projects, consultation with local communities will play a major part in shaping East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North, and I encourage you as much as possible to get involved in the process. Public information events will be held locally where members of the ScottishPower Renewables project team will be on hand to discuss the proposals and answer questions.

Details of these events are provided in the table below.

We welcome any feedback on our plans and look forward to discussing them with you.

Area

Venue

Date

Time

Lowestoft

Victoria Hotel

17 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Southwold

TBC

17 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Leiston

United Church

18 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Thorpeness


24 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Aldeburgh

Brundenell Hotel

24 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Orford

Town Hall

25 March 2018

10am – 1pm

This document is also available in large print, Braille and audio forms on request.

Glossary of abbreviations

Term

Abbreviation


CFWG

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

AONB

Development Consent Order

DCO

East Anglia TWO

EA2

East Anglia ONE North

EA1N

Environmental Impact Assessment

EIA


ES

Health & Safety Executive

HSE

Local Enterprise Partnership

LEP

Marine Mammals Organisation

MMO

Planning Inspectorate

PINS

Preliminary Environmental Information Report

PEIR

Red Line Boundary

RLB

Report to Inform

RtI

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

RSPB


SPR


SoCC

Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies

SNCBs

Zone of Theoretical Visibility

ZTV

Introduction


This section describes the strategy to deliver the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), the advertisement of the SoCC and the supporting Report to Inform the SoCC for East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm (EA2).

This document is a statement detailing how statutory and non-statutory consultees can engage with ScottishPower Renewables (SPR), and the decision makers.

The SoCC was originally scheduled to be produced to coincide with the refinement of the Red Line Boundary (RLB) for the location of the onshore infrastructure. However, early engagement outside of the formal Development Consent Order (DCO) application process combined with dialogue with the local authorities (Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council), has influenced SPR’s decision to bring this forward.

There are four key issues to be considered and relayed to stakeholders around this consultation strategy.

Key Issues:

1. The geographical spread of the interested parties is large and focussed on a coastal strip between Great Yarmouth and Felixstowe.

2. The stakeholders associated with the new connection point are new and are assumed to have some experience of consultation on major infrastructure projects, and this influenced our decision to commence early engagement.

3. SPR has completed a phase of early engagement in the area of search for onshore infrastructure and those potentially impacted by the visual aspects of the wind turbines using Public Information Days (PIDs). These were completed 30 & 31 October and 1 & 2 November 2017.

4. SPR is refining the area of search for onshore infrastructure in parallel using a balance of consultation and technical constraints. The local authorities have expressed a desire to understand how the early engagement ties in with the refinement of the area of search.

Scoping was submitted to PINS on 9th November 2017 for both East Anglia TWO (EA2) and East Anglia ONE North (EA1N). The two projects have been developed in parallel to November 2017 and the SoCC will now be progressed for both EA2 and EA1N. The SoCC strategy is to deliver a single SoCC advert for publication and a separate ‘Report to Inform the SoCC’ and SoCC for both EA2 and EA1N.

Aim

The aim of the SoCC is to clarify the development programme, lines of communication and means of engagement with statutory stakeholders, non-statutory stakeholders and interested parties.

During the determination of the application, SPR will be measured against the commitments made in the SoCC. It is therefore a critical document in the development process.

Planning Inspectorate (PINS) advice acknowledges that responding to the Developers pre-application consultation is the best time to influence the final design or mitigate any perceived impacts

The SoCC will detail what consultation SPR intends to undertake with the communities potentially affected by the project.

One of the key issues for this SoCC is that the area of search for onshore infrastructure, the ‘Onshore Study Area’, and the resultant Red Line Boundary (RLB), will be refined in parallel. SPR consultation therefore has a dual objective – to both consult on the development of the East Anglia ONE North Windfarm and the definition of the RLB.

Page 6

The Applicant

SPR is part of the Iberdrola Group, a world leader in clean energy with an installed capacity of over 28,000MW, and the leading wind energy producer worldwide. SPR is at the forefront of the development of the renewables industry through pioneering ideas, forward thinking and outstanding innovation which, in turn, drives economic success.

By the end of 2017, SPR will have 40 operational windfarms in the UK producing over 2,500MW of clean energy. SPR manage all of their operational sites, including their international offshore portfolio, through the Control Centre at Whitelee Windfarm, just outside Glasgow.

SPR is currently taking forward the development and progressing the construction of the 102-turbine East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm approximately 43km off the coast of Suffolk. This £2.5 billion project is planned to deliver energy to meet the annual demand of around 600,000 homes and should be fully operational during 2020. SPRs 1,200MW East Anglia Three offshore windfarm project has recently received development consent and will follow on from East Anglia ONE.

Building on these first two East Anglia projects, SPR is now seeking to progress development of the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North offshore windfarm projects.

Figure 1- SPR East Anglia portfolio

The Proposal

East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarms

The East Anglia ONE North windfarm site (see Figure 1) is approximately 208km2 in area. At its nearest point, the East Anglia ONE North windfarm site is 36km from Lowestoft and 42km from Southwold. Within the East Anglia ONE North windfarm site it is proposed that up to 67 wind turbines and an overall installed capacity of up to 800MW would be constructed. When operational the project would have the potential to provide up to 650,000* homes with power. From the wind turbines electricity would flow via subsea inter-array cables to a number of offshore electrical platforms and then to the shore via offshore export cables.

*Calculated taking the number of megawatts (800) multiplied by the number of hours in one year (8,766), multiplied by the average load factor (efficiency of electrical energy usage) for offshore wind (36.7 %, published by the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics), divided by the average annual household energy consumption (3,900 kWh), giving an equivalent of powering 659,922 homes.

Page 7

Scenario 1 (East Anglia TWO installs ducts and National Grid Infrastructure)

Scenario 2 (East Anglia TWO does not install ducts and National Grid Infrastructure)

Landfall and Onshore Cable Route

Number of ducts installed at the landfall (either by HDD or open trenching)

0

Up to 4

Number of transition bays

Up to 2

Up to 2

Transition bay dimensions

9m x 4m

9m x 4m

Landfall HDD compound dimensions (if required)

175m x 50m

175m x 50m

Number of onshore export cables

Up to 6

Up to 6

Onshore cable corridor swathe width

50m

50m

Number cable trenches (between transition bay and onshore substation)

0

Up to 2

Number ducts installed within onshore cable corridor swathe

0

Up to 6

Number of jointing bays

Dependent upon length of onshore cable route. One required approximately every 500m.

Dimension of jointing bays

15m (length) x 3m (width) x 2m (depth)

Number of link boxes

Dependent upon length of onshore cable route. Two required for every jointing bay

Dimension of link boxes

1.5m (length) x 1.5m (width) x 1.5m (depth)

Onshore Substation

Substation operational compound area

190m x 190m

190m x 190m

Substation construction compound area (required in addition to the operational footprint)

185m x 50m

185m x 50m

Substation buildings height

Up to 21m

Up to 21m

National Grid infrastructure

Substation compound area

n/a

325m x 140m

Maximum height

n/a

Up to 13m

Offshore export cables will connect the offshore electrical platforms within the proposed East Anglia ONE North windfarm site to shore, making landfall between Sizewell and Thorpeness in Suffolk.

Offshore

Capacity

Up to 800MW

East Anglia ONE North windfarm area (offshore)

208km2

Distance from East Anglia ONE North to shore

36km Lowestoft

42km Southwold

50km Sizewell

60km Orford

Maximum offshore export cable corridor length

54.4km

Number of wind turbines

Up to 67

[footnoteRef:1]Proposed wind turbine capacity [1: More than one wind turbine and foundation type and manufacturer could be deployed, up to a maximum of three wind turbine models will be considered for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project design envelope.]

Up to 19MW (dependent upon available technology) and subject to change within the dimensions ultimately assessed

Wind Turbine rotor diameter

Up to 250m

Tip height

Up to 300m (LAT)

Minimum clearance above sea level

22m (MHWS)

Minimum inter-row spacing

1,386m

Number of offshore electrical platforms

Up to 4

Number of accommodation platforms

1

Number of operational met masts

1

Number of export cables

2

Inter-array, platform link and inter-connector cables

The lengths and numbers required will be determined as more detailed work is undertaken and assessed in the final ES.

Water depth over wind farm site

Typically -33 to -67mLAT

Once the offshore export cables reach the shore they will be joined to onshore cables via a transition bay near the point of landfall and then to a new onshore substation. From this substation the proposed East Anglia ONE North project will then be connected into the transmission network via a new transmission substation owned and operated by National Grid. In addition, there may be a requirement to upgrade the existing pylons to allow for connection to the transmission network. All of these elements would be consented as part of the East Anglia ONE North windfarm Development Consent Order (DCO) application (see Figure 2).

Figure 2 – How an offshore windfarm works

Onshore, given partial location within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), SPR is committed to undergrounding the cables with the benefit of avoiding landscape and visual impacts associated with overhead lines. Furthermore, SPR is committed to exploring synergies between the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects in the same manner as for East Anglia ONE and East Anglia THREE by proposing where possible, and subject to regulatory certainty, to install ducting for the East Anglia ONE North windfarm onshore electrical cables during the East Anglia TWO windfarm construction. This would reduce the construction impacts for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project.

The onshore study area (see Figure 3) has been identified by initial constraints and feasibility studies. It includes land between Sizewell and Thorpeness at the landfall and inland approximately 7km to the north of Friston

Figure 3 – Onshore Study Area

The DCO application for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project will include all of the new elements described above (including the associated National Grid infrastructure). In addition temporary works and ancillary infrastructure necessary for the construction and operation of the project, such as temporary construction areas onshore, and accommodation platforms offshore shall be included.

East Anglia TWO has been developed in parallel with East Anglia ONE NORTH in so far as submission of their Scoping Reports to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) and preparation and publication of the project SOCCs.

East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North are advertising their commencement of formal consultation in accordance with Section 47 the Planning Act 2008. As part of that process, consultation will be carried out on the Onshore Study Area (see Figure 4) for potential locations for the onshore infrastructure and the cable routeing.


Geographical Area of Engagement

The Onshore Consultation Zone

Figure 4 shows the Onshore Consultation Zone. This has been determined by defining the Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV), shown in Figure 4 below. This output of computer modelling identifies where it is theoretically possible to see the offshore wind turbines from, in very good or excellent visibility conditions; as well as communities within the Onshore Study Area.

Figure 4 – Onshore Consultation Zone

The Onshore Study Area

Figure 3 shows the Onshore Study Area. This is the area within which onshore infrastructure, for East Anglia TWO, East Anglia ONE North and National Grid would be placed. This is currently an area of search and the forthcoming months will refine the locations of the substations, landfall and onshore cable corridor. This is a key function of the consultation process.

The Onshore Study Area will be taken to a stage where there is a refined study area (in March 2018) and then a final red line boundary in June 2018.

The onshore study area is the area where we focussed our October /November 2017 PIDS and we will continue to engage with this area throughout the process, as well as widening the geographical area to ensure we engage with those within the wider Onshore Consultation Zone.

The key onshore components of the proposed East Anglia ONE North project are expected to comprise:

· Landfall site with an associated transition bay to connect the offshore and onshore cables

· Onshore underground cable ducts and cable jointing bays, into which cables will be installed

· Onshore underground cable ducts installed for the proposed East Anglia ONE North project


· Infrastructure required by National Grid to connect the proposed East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North projects to the electricity transmission network, expected to include:


· Sealing end compounds / gantries

· Potential for the upgrade of up to two existing overhead pylons or minor relocation of up to two existing overhead pylons.

It is expected that the proposed East Anglia TWO project will consent all of the required National Grid infrastructure as it will be constructed first. However, the proposed East Anglia ONE North project may need to consent additional infrastructure required to connect its substation to the overhead lines, as well as parts of the National Grid substation infrastructure. The Onshore Study Area; i.e. the area within which onshore infrastructure, for East Anglia TWO, East Anglia ONE North and National Grid would be placed has a separate, but parallel, consultation process. This is integral and running in tandem with the broader consultation process defined in this SoCC.

Whilst this boundary is being refined and ultimately presented at June 2018 PIDs, wider consultation will continue on the project towards the submission date.

The Offshore Consultation Zone

Figure 5 shows the proposed development boundary for the project and the Offshore Consultation Zone. This is the area within which offshore infrastructure will be placed.

Figure 5 – Offshore Cable Corridor Area of Search

Engagement is ongoing with a number of stakeholders including the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and our Commercial Fisheries Working Group (CFWG).

SoCC Strategy

This document is a statement detailing how statutory and non-statutory consultees can engage with SPR and the decision makers. This document is known as the ‘Report to Inform’ (RtI) and describes the strategy to deliver the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) to support the development and consenting of the East Anglia ONE North offshore windfarm.

The SoCC strategy is to deliver:

· A single SoCC advert for publication as shown below;

· Two ‘advertising poster’ SoCCs; and

· Two ‘Reports to Inform the SoCC’ for East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North.

Publication

Publication Date

East Anglian Daily Times


Lowestoft Journal


Fishing Trade Journal – Fishing News Weekly Journal

w/c 26 February 2018

The aim of the SoCC is to clarify the development programme, lines of communication and means of engagement with statutory stakeholders and non-statutory stakeholders.

Overlap with RAG Report and Red Line Boundary

There is a logical overlap between the consultation strategy and the refinement of the Red Line Boundary for onshore infrastructure.

The Onshore Study Area for onshore infrastructure has been shared at our recent Public Information Days (PIDs) and in Briefing sessions with Town and Parish Councils. The Area of Search is also presented in the Scoping Report and is something we will be seeking opinion on as part of the wider consultation and planning process.

SPR Commitment to Early Engagement

· SPR is committed to early engagement, meaningful and full consultation with interested parties.

SPR Commitment to Briefing Town Councils and Parish Councils in and around the Area of Search

· Leiston Town Council, Aldringham Parish Council, Knodishall Parish Council already engaged

· Other relevant Parish/Town Councils and Residents Associations Briefings to be arranged

Trackers

· Trackers to monitor consistency between RLB refinement and SoCC commitments

· Trackers to maintain momentum and deliver a DCO in 2019

Consenting Process

A diagram of the Consenting Process is shown below.

Figure 5: Consenting process flow chart

Pre-Application Consultation

This document provides information to support the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), provided as Appendix 1, for the East Anglia ONE North offshore windfarm and associated development. It includes the proposed strategy for consultation with local communities in accordance with Section 47 of the Planning Act 2008 and represents the commencement of consultation under Section 47. It explains who we have identified to consult, the consultation methods proposed and the proposed timeframes for consultation.

This document also identifies how you can comment on the proposals and help shape the proposed DCO application for the project. The first formal events of statutory community consultation under Section 47 will be held in March 2018.

Scoping


The East Anglia TWO Scoping Report is available to view on the PINS website by clicking here or visiting


The East Anglia ONE North Scoping Report is available to view on the PINS website by clicking here or visiting


Supporting Environmental Information

Legislation requires that SPR undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to identify likely significant environmental effects of the project. The results of the EIA will be published in an Environmental Statement (ES) that will accompany the DCO application for the proposed project.

In order to agree the environmental studies required for the EIA with statutory consultees, SPR submitted a Scoping Report to PINS on 9th November 2017. This document included detailed information on the approach to EIA for the proposed project, an indicative project description for offshore and onshore works and the potential environmental impacts which will be assessed.

A Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR), which will include details of the preliminary assessment findings, will be published for consultation in autumn 2018, and will be made available to the public through publication on the East Anglia ONE North project website as well as the PINS website. The PEIR will include a description of the proposals and baseline information (to date) and identify the potential impacts of the development, as well as possible measures to reduce, prevent or offset these. This will include information on the scope for any associated land restoration, landscaping and other mitigation measures if required.

There will be an opportunity to respond to SPR when the PEIR and the EIA/ES are published.

Identifying our Consultees

Statutory Consultees

We are required by the Planning Act 2008 to consult with certain organisations and persons on our proposed application. We will also notify these parties if the application is accepted by PINS.

These consultees include:

· Relevant local authorities

· MMO

· The Crown Estate

· HSE

· Environment Agency

· Natural England

· Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs)

· Relevant Parish Councils

· Owners, lessees, tenants and other persons with an interest in the land/right to make a relevant claim

Non-Statutory Consultees

Non Statutory consultees are those agencies and organisations with whom we consult with as best practice and these include:

· Local communities, i.e. Residents’ Associations

· Fishermen, through our ‘Commercial Fisheries Working Group’ (CWFG)

· Local Interest Groups

· Local Amenity Groups

Please note that these lists are not exhaustive.

The Local Community

The Local Communities have been determined by defining the Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV), shown in Figure 4 above.

The local communities are within the defined Onshore Consultation Zone

We have focussed on the coastal settlements within the ZTV and the communities within the Onshore Study Area. However, the consultation events will be advertised on a regional basis using the East Anglia Daily Times and Lowestoft Journal and we would encourage those from the wider area with comments and opinions to engage.

All Other Stakeholders

Other Stakeholders have been identified by SPR and will also be consulted. For example other Stakeholders include the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Suffolk Preservation Society.

The Consultation Process

Consultation Objectives

The consultation objectives are to consult widely, honestly and in a cyclical fashion – to allow representations to be incorporated into the project where possible.

PINS guidance on the pre-application process advocates that early involvement of local communities, local authorities and statutory consultees can bring about significant benefits for all parties, by:

· Helping the applicant identify and resolve issues at the earliest stage, which can reduce the overall risk to the project further down the line as it becomes more difficult to make changes once an application has been submitted;

· Enabling members of the public to influence proposed projects, feedback on potential options, and encouraging the community to help shape the proposal to maximise local benefits and minimize any downsides;

· Helping local people understand the potential nature and local impact of the proposed project, with the potential to dispel misapprehensions at an early stage;

· Enabling applicants to obtain important information about the economic, social and environmental impacts of a scheme from consultees, which can help rule out unsuitable options;

· Enabling potential mitigating measures to be considered and, if appropriate, built into the project before an application is submitted; and

· Identifying ways in which the project could, without significant costs to promoters, support wider strategic or local objectives.

Consultation Strategy

The Consultation Strategy for East Anglia ONE North is focussed around the dual objective of both consulting on the development of the proposed East Anglia ONE North project and the area of search for onshore infrastructure, the ‘Onshore Study Area’, and the resultant Red Line Boundary (RLB), for the onshore infrastructure (which covers both East Anglia TWO and East Anglia ONE North).

The consultation has been split into four phases, as described below.

Four Phases of Consultation

Phase One

SPR chose to complete a phase of early engagement to share the work with statutory bodies to identify our onshore study area. There were three reasons for this:

1. To introduce the project to stakeholders;

2. Consult on potential locations for onshore infrastructure; and

3. To consult on those potentially impacted by the visual aspects of the offshore windfarm.

This was completed using the following tools:

· Telephone calls, briefings, meetings and sharing the Project Leaflet with a wide range of statutory and non-statutory stakeholders; County, Borough, District, Town, Parish Councils, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Visit East Anglia, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. For further details, please see Appendix 6.

· Preparation and circulation of the Project Leaflet (see Appendix 3), as a means of introducing the projects.

· Public Information Days (PIDs) on 30 and 31 October and 1 and 2 November 2017.

Phase One was ‘non statutory’ consultation as it was outside the process described in legislation.

A Summary of Environmental Considerations was produced to support East Anglia ONE North in early engagement activities. All the materials presented are accessible on the website link below:

www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/pages/east_anglia_two.aspx

Phase Two

SPR propose to hold a series of PID events in March 2018. These will be the first ‘formal’ consultation events. A ‘formal’ consultation event is one which is required by legislation and has certain requirements including registration of visitors.

The March 2018 events will specifically provide further information on our onshore study area within which we intend to site the projects onshore electrical infrastructure, the refinement of the RLB, and also further information on visual impact.

Hard to Reach Groups

The geographical area of engagement includes a ‘Hard to Reach’ audience. This is made up of a number of informal groups of people and includes tourists and second home owners.

In order to secure the attention of the ‘Hard to Reach’ audience, it is proposed to target this audience when we hold PIDs in March 2018 to coincide with the consultation events associated with refining the RLB.

It is recognised that some individuals may not have had the opportunity to visit the PIDs in October/ November 2017. The proposal is to complete a targeted phase of PID events over a weekend, using advertisement and a mail drop to highlight the opportunity.

Details below:

Area

Venue

Date

Time

Lowestoft

Victoria Hotel

17 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Southwold

TBC

17 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Leiston

United Church

18 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Thorpeness


24 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Aldeburgh

Brundenell Hotel

24 March 2018

3pm – 6pm

Orford

Town Hall

25 March 2018

10am – 1pm

Phase Three

The third phase of consultation will be in June 2018.

We will hold PIDs in the venues already visited to show our defined Red Line Boundary for onshore infrastructure and update our consultees on the proposed development plans.

The defined Red Line Boundary will be shared at the June PID events and other details of the project will be available to share with our consultees. The period between the June PID events and submission of the PEIR in November 2018 will allow further refinement of the project.

Phase Four

The fourth phase of consultation will be in November 2018 when the PEIR is submitted.

This SoCC sets out the manner in which the scheme promoter is proposing to consult with the local community in accordance with Section 47(1) of the Planning Act 2008. Consultation with statutory consultees (such as Natural England, the Environment Agency etc.), local authorities and landowners will also be undertaken under Section 42 of the Planning Act 2008. Where relevant, this may include information on the scope for any associated landscaping, other mitigation or compensatory measures for natural habitats impact.

The PEIR will essentially be a draft Environmental Statement (to that point) to support the DCO application. The DCO is scheduled to be submitted in 2019.

Consultation on the PEIR will be known as ‘Section 42 Consultation’.

Special Events

SPR takes consultation very seriously as a scheduled part of the development programme. However, it is acknowledged that there are often consultation opportunities that arise for example engagement with the wider ‘Hard to Reach’ Groups, including visitors and groups that do not meet frequently.

For this reason, our Development Team and Stakeholder Manager will monitor these opportunities and engage as appropriate.

The integrated timeline of activities is shown below:

Figure 5: Timeline of activities

Communication Tools

SPR recognise that one method of consultation doesn’t meet the requirements of each stakeholder group. For this reason, it is proposed to use a number of communication tools.

How we will respond to Consultee Comments

Following each phase of consultation, we will have a period to digest and consider feedback and review our proposals. After each phase of PID events we will publish findings on the SPR website.

Phase two consultation in March will continue to inform the definition of the RLB. The RLB will be presented in June 2018 at a series of PIDs. Consultation regarding other aspects of the project will continue towards submission date.

Where consultees approach SPR by email or mail, SPR will acknowledge the communication within 1 week. SPR will endeavour to respond to the consultee within 1 calendar month.

All comments and information we receive will be recorded in a consultation database and be considered by SPR. As part of our DCO application, we will provide a Consultation Report to explain how the views received have been incorporated into the project design process and EIA. If an issue has not resulted in a change to the proposed development, the Consultation Report will explain this. As there may be a large number of responses, the Consultation Report may group comments into broad issues of concern. Please note that all communications will be publicly available, however, no personal details will be published.

Further Information

General Consultation Enquiries

SPR has a Stakeholder Manager, Joanna Young, who is co-ordinating consultation on the development of the proposed East Anglia ONE North project.

All project information will be available on our website at the following address or by clicking here

https://www.scottishpowerrenewables.com/pages/east_anglia_one_north.aspx

We also have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with: [email protected]

You can also write to us at the following Freepost address:

ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia ONE North

RTLY-RLGH-GKSE

FREEPOST

25 Priestgate

Peterborough PE1 1JL

Should you wish to follow the project on the PINS website, the East Anglia ONE North website is at the following address or by clicking here:


Fishing Related Enquiries

SPR has a dedicated Fishery/Fishing Liaison Officer, Brown & May, who is coordinating liaison with fishing stakeholders on the development of the proposed East Anglia ONE North project.

We have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with the Fishery/Fishing Liaison Officer: [email protected]

You can also contact us at the following address:

Jonathan Kerr

East Anglia ONE North FLO

For and on behalf of ScottishPower Renewables

Brown & May Marine Limited

Progress Way

Mid Suffolk Business Park

Eye

Suffolk IP23 7HU

Direct Dial: 01379 872143

Land Related Enquiries

SPR has a dedicated Land Officer, Savills, who is coordinating liaison with land owners on the development of the East Anglia ONE North project.

We have a dedicated email address for you to communicate with the Land Officer:

[email protected]

Address Here

Direct Dial: XXXX XXXXXX

Appendix 1 - SoCC

Attach once designed

Appendix 2 - Advert Produced to Support Phase 1 PID Consultation

Appendix 3 – Project Leaflet (V2 & superseded by Scoping Report in November 2017)

Appendix 4 – Pre-application consultation to Drafting of SoCC in December 2017

Consultees

Norfolk County Council

Expert Topic Group (ETG) Meeting on Seascape Visuals

Suffolk County Council

Mid Suffolk District Council

New 'East Suffolk Council' from 2019

(Suffolk Coastal & Waveney merging)

Waveney District Council

The Broads Authority

PINS

MMO

Natural England

Historic England

Leiston cum Sizewell Town Council

Aldringham cum Thorpe Parish Council

Knodishall Parish Council

Sizewell Residents Association

Orford and Gedgrave Parish Council

Aldeburgh Town Council

Walberswick Parish Council

Southwold Town Council

Kessingland Parish Council

Lowestoft Town Council

The Crown Estate

EDF

Innogy

Galloper OFTO

Gabbard OFTO

Vattenfall

NGC

Members of Parliament


New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership for Norfolk and Suffolk

RSPB

Suffolk Wildlife Trust

WDCS

Suffolk Chamber of Commerce

Suffolk Preservation Society

Suffolk Coastal Forum

Destination Management Organisation

Royal Yachting Association

Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club

Visit East Anglia

The follow consultees were identified through the phase 1 PIDS:

Southwold Chamber of Trade

AONB Management Team

Rayden Society

Southwold Harbour Master

Leiston Together

Transport Groups


ScottishPower House

320 St Vincent Street

Glasgow

G2 5AD

T 0141 614 0000

[email protected]


December 2017

January2018

February 2018

March 2018

Scoping Opinion due

Review of Scoping Opinion and scoping responses

Workshop with LPA and wider statutory stakeholders

April2018

Presentation of final development boundary to LPA and wider statutory stakeholders

Town and Parish Council engagement ongoing as required - presentation of updates

May2018

Presentation of draft development boundary to LPA

Production of draft SoCC

June2018

Phase 3 PIDs

Commence section 42 consultation on submitted Preliminary Environmental Information Report

Phase 4 PIDS to coincide with section 42 consultation

Local Planning Authority (LPA) workshop

Phase 2 Public Information Days (PIDs)

Ongoing meetings with Town and Parish Councils

Town and Parish Councils engagement ongoing as required

Scoping submission

Ongoing Meetings with Town and Parish Councils to present onshore study area

Phase 1 PIDs to introduce the projects to local communities

November 2017

Initial Meetings with Town and Parish Councils to present onshore study area

October2017

November 2018

Consultation Events

Written Communication

Verbal Communication

Website Updates

Drop in Public Information Days (PIDS)

Presentation to Local Authorities, Parish Councils, specific interest groups

Stakeholder Events

Email Updates

Response to written letters/emails

Presentations by invite

Updates in The East Angle - SPR's flagship newsletter

Project video

Project Launch

August 2017

Summer Break

Aug-Sept 2017

Phase 1 PID Roll Out

Oct 2017

PIDs

Oct/Nov 2017

Scoping

Nov 2017

SoCC Drafting

Dec 2017

Page 32

East Anglia TWO

PROPOSED OFFSHORE WINDFARM Statement of Community ConsultationHow to have your say on the proposed East Anglia TWO Offshore Windfarm

Prepared and published in accordance with Section 47 of the Planning Act 2008

1. The Purpose of Community Consultation

The aim of the Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC) is to explain how we intend to consult with you on our proposed offshore windfarm project known as the East Anglia TWO Offshore Windfarm (“East Anglia TWO”) as required under the Planning Act 2008. It details the opportunities available for you to come and meet us, to ask questions and to com

east anglia one north offshore windfarm appendix 3... · appendix 3.1 consultation on the draft...

Documents